You can protest if you want, nihil. But dogs are bred for behavior as well as physical traits, which is mostly why border collies are what they are. I have the impression most dog people would be aghast at the idea of raising a wolf pup in a human family. "The Hidden Life of Dogs" was entertaining enough, and touching in its way, but it wasn't that deep, and the sample was quite limited.
It's true that dogs are, in general, genetically indistinguishable from wolves. But the devil is in the details. The main problem with dog breeding, way too much is for superficial dog show conformation standards, and way too little attention is paid to breeding out bad temperament. The working breeds that are bred for performance instead of physical appearance do much better, the border collie of course being everybody's favorite.
In the wild, there's a place for a broader range of temperaments. The dominant wolf will go out on his/her own when the time comes, and become an alpha, or a lone wolf, or just die fighting if it doesn't have other stuff to go with dominance. There's no place for that part of the behavioral spectrum in the domestic dog.
Here is a bit from another Atlantic article, better written, by somebody who really knows dogs, and isn't just reporting on them. He's obviously well aware of the importance of training and environmental factors, but he doesn't deny the role of genetics.
theatlantic.com
What is now clear is that genes lay down the basic blueprint for each dog, including a predisposition toward certain complex behaviors, such as retrieving and herding, and temperaments, such as fearfulness and sociability. But environmental factors as disparate as the health and diet of the mother during pregnancy, conditions at birth, the mother's temperament, diet after weaning, trauma and illness the dog might suffer, and the attention it receives from its human breeder have a tremendous and lasting effect on a dog's development. The human beings who adopt a puppy also have a dramatic impact, because dogs do not mature fully until they are two to three years old. That is why "puppy tests" designed to predict a dog's personality and abilities are largely useless. It is also why differences in behavior and temperament between littermates are usually more striking than differences between breeds.
Early and consistent socialization to human beings and to other dogs is crucial to a puppy's mental and emotional growth. Puppies not socialized to people between their sixth and twelfth weeks -- the majority from pet stores and commercial breeders -- often become fearful, aggressive, phobic, or anxious, as do many of those who suffer serious early illness or trauma. Dogs left alone for long periods, and those with constant human companionship, are prone to separation anxiety, as are those rescued from shelters.
Fear, aggression, panic and obsessive-compulsive disorders, phobias, and anxiety also have genetic components, especially among purebred dogs. "There are a lot of lines with naturally occurring strangeness," Borchelt says. When a dog is used to produce multiple litters, various of its attributes enter the gene pool repeatedly. Inbreeding fixes those traits, including physical and behavioral problems, and overbreeding guarantees their wide distribution. The only way to avoid buying a dog produced through these practices, common in the show world, is to check its genealogy, observe its parents, and steer clear of commercial breeders and pet st ores. Ethical breeders do not mate dogs who have problems.
Cheers, Dan. |
